“It Was a Mistake, but We Knew That Something Might Happen”: Narratives of Teenage Girls’ Experiences With Unintended Teenage Pregnancy

Abstract

It has been over a quarter of a century since the sexual reproductive health of young people came under the spotlight. The upsurge in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)infections spurred on an era of intense development of services and strategies to ensurepeople’s reproductive health rights were attainable, including the right to choose whento fall pregnant and have a baby. The statistics on teenage pregnancy are more thanjust numbers, but a represent stark reality for some girls in South African schools.Given that pregnancy in the teenage years is largely unintentional, prevention strategiesneed to extend beyond addressing risky sexual behavior; gaining deeper insights intoteenagers’ experiences and the events leading up to pregnancy would serve to betterinform pregnancy prevention programs. This study explored the experiences of teenagemothers and pregnant teenagers, with the objective of acquiring a broader understandingof alternative approaches to preventing unintended pregnancy. A qualitative study wasconducted in Ekurhuleni’s township in the east of Johannesburg, South Africa. Fifteennarrative interviews with girls aged 13–19 years were conducted between July 2015 andJuly 2016, and were analyzed chronologically through narrative analysis. The findingsrevealed that participants who had engaged in socio-sexual and romantic relationshipshad no intention of falling pregnant and were familiar with existing strategies to preventpregnancy. Social-sexual relationships were presented as an important aspect of theirlives and demonstrated their ability to create spaces and opportunities to spend timewith their social sexual partners and engage in sexual activity. Focusing on how teenagegirls evaluate their sexual activity against the consequences of their actions is critical.However, sexual and reproductive health programs should refrain from representingyoung people’s sexual behavior as a pathological condition, framing it instead as anintegral component of creative sexual development. Programs should include relevantpractical advice in relation to sexual engagement and be considered an extension of theState’s existing Road to Health program